"Fire and Water"

This past Sunday, we celebrated the Baptism of Jesus Christ. In keeping with this theme, my choir's song lyrics featured two significant symbols: fire and water. While these two things seem completely contrary and oppositional on the surface, we can see through the Liturgy that they are, in fact, very much complementary.

FIRE

For the processional hymn, we sang "Glory and Praise to Our God", a song that offers praise and thanks to our God for the many blessings and gifts he bestows upon us. The lines that stood out to me most were as follows:

In His wisdom, he strengthens us

Like gold that's tested in fire

In everyday life, we associate fire with danger, damage, and destruction. Fires can cause great pain and loss. How, then, can fire be a gift for which we praise God?

Look closely at the first part of that excerpt. What does the fire do? It strengthens us!
 

We have all encountered "fire" in the form of painful, difficult situations in our lives - times of great hurt, fear, anger, sadness, and despair. At the time of such a situation, it is hard to find any positivity or silver linings. However, with time, prayer, and reflection, we can see that from all things, even terrible things, something good can emerge.

Pain and suffering help us build and extend our inner strength. From coping with difficult situations, we can learn many helpful things and develop many beneficial skills and attitudes that will in turn better equip us for the many new experiences that lie ahead.

I myself have gone through such a difficult period of time. A few years ago, all within 7 months, I went through the painful end of a long relationship, the death of my closest relative, and the loss of my job. At this time, it felt like too much to handle, and I felt like I would never experience anything good again. However, with God at my side, my heart healed, and I was able to work through these difficulties and glean something good from them. I worked on developing greater patience, empathy, optimism, lightheartedness, and independence. These qualities would serve to be very important, because the very next year, I met the amazing man who would become my fiance, and got a new job, finally in the teaching field. Had I not had occasion to work on bettering myself, I might not have been in the "right place" mentally, emotionally, and spiritually for my new relationship and new job to blossom and flourish in the beautiful ways that they did.

I cannot thank God enough for helping me to turn my negative experiences into positive self-growth. By fire, He strengthened me, and I am at a place in my life now where I have never experienced such profound joy!

In sum, with the help, love, and support of the Lord, we can overcome life's painful obstacles and come to find new happiness, love, and light. It is not to downplay the seriousness of pain and loss - pain and loss HURT. I just encourage you to remember that, even when times are at their worst, there is always something more beautiful ahead.

WATER

Let us now discuss the signficance of water.

The two main "water-themed" songs we sang on Sunday were "Come to the Water" and "We Have Been Baptized in Christ". Here are excerpts from both of them:

Oh, let all who thirst

Let them come to the water

And let all who have nothing

Let them come to the Lord

We have been baptized in Christ

It is He that we have put on

We who are washed in this water

Have hope of eternal life

Water does many wonderful things for us. It refreshes us when we are thirsty. It helps cook meals that nourish us. It cools us down when we are hot. It cleanses us when we are dirty.

In Baptism, and every day after that, God indeed does all of these things for us. When we hunger and thirst for something, particularly emotional and spiritual nourishment, God is there to provide it. He fills up and rejuvenates our hearts and souls.

When we our emotions are "hot" and we are feeling angry, hurt, jealous, or otherwise ill at ease, we can rely on God to help calm us down. Through prayer and spiritual reflection, these negative feelings can begin to melt away and be replaced with happier, more peaceful feelings.

Similarly, God can "wash away" the sins that weigh down and harden our hearts and souls. Baptism is meant to cleanse us of original sin, and thereafter, we have the gift of the Sacrament of Reconciliation to cleanse us from the sins we commit in life. 

These many benefits are ever available to us. We just have to be prepared to genuinely, humbly ask for them.

We can see, then, that while seemingly opposite, fire and water actually go very much hand in hand. The forces and processes of challenge, strengthening, cleansing, and rejuvenation work together to help us grow and realize our greater potential, such that we become better prepared for the many wonders and experiences that God has in store for us. Let us, therefore, work to keep our minds and hearts open to what lies ahead, and to trust in God to guide us every step of the way.

May God bless you, today and always!

Karen